Oxide nanotube analogues: CuO nanobarrels

H. H. Farrell, Ruben D. Parra

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Recently, CuO “rings” on the order of 100 nm diameter have been observed experimentally by El-Azab and Liang [A. El-Azab and Y. Liang, Philos. Mag. 83, 3847 (2003)]. In a separate effort, we have used first principles density functional calculations to investigate smaller, single walled CuO structures that appear to be nanotubes or nanobarrels with a square unit mesh rather than the hexagonal mesh of carbon nanotubes. These CuO nanobarrels are novel and unique. They are metallic or semimetallic in nature having unoccupied energy levels just above the Fermi Level. Different nanobarrels have a different spins, depending on their size and geometry. Those with an even number of CuO units may have spin zero, or be ferrimagnetic. Those with an odd number of CuO units are always ferrimagnetic with a residual spin. The authors anticipate that these nanostructures will almost certainly yield intriguing results when studied experimentally.
Original languageEnglish
Article number061806
JournalJournal of Vacuum Science and Technology B
Volume29
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2011

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Instrumentation
  • Process Chemistry and Technology
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Materials Chemistry

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